Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac: Introductory BTWs Excel Chapter 3

Transcription

1 Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac: Introductory BTWs Excel Chapter 3 Correctness (EX 136) Studies have shown that more than 25 percent of all business worksheets have errors. You can ensure correctness in your formulas by carefully checking them using Range Finder. The Audit Formulas group on the Formulas tab on the ribbon also can be helpful when verifying formulas. Excel s Usefulness (EX 136) Just a short time ago, a what-if question of any complexity could be answered only by using a large, expensive computer programmed by highly paid computer professionals, and generating a result could take days. Excel gives the noncomputer professional the ability to get complex business-related questions answered instantaneously and economically. The Ribbon and Screen Resolution (EX 140) Excel may change how the groups and buttons within the groups appear on the ribbon, depending on the computer s screen resolution. Thus, your ribbon may look different from the ones in this book if you are using a screen resolution other than 1280 x 800. BTWs (EX 140) For a complete list of the BTWs found in the margins of this book, visit the Excel 2011 BTW Web page (scsite.com/ex2011/btw). Rotating Text in a Cell (EX 140) In Excel, you use the Alignment pane of the Format Cells dialog as shown in Figure 3 5 on page EX 141, to position data in a cell by centering, left-aligning, or right-aligning; indenting; aligning at the top, bottom, or center; and rotating. If you enter 90 in the Degrees box in the Orientation area, the text will appear vertically and read from bottom to top in the cell. The Mighty Fill Handle (EX 143) If you drag the fill handle to the left or up, Excel will decrement the series rather than increment the series. If you drag the fill handle back into the middle of a cell, Excel erases the contents of the cell. Custom Fill Sequences (EX 143) You can create your own custom lists for use with the fill handle. For example, if you often type in the same list of products or names into Excel, you can create a custom fill sequence. You then can type the first product or name and then use the fill handle automatically to fill in the remaining products or names. To create a custom fill sequence, click Excel in the menu bar and choose Preferences. Click Custom Lists in the Formulas and Lists area (Excel Preferences dialog) to open the Custom Lists dialog. Fitting Entries in a Cell (EX 145) An alternative to increasing column widths or row heights is to shrink the characters in a cell to fit the current width of the column. To shrink to fit, choose Format > Cells in the menu bar, click

2 the Alignment tab, then click Shrink to fit in the Text control area. After shrinking entries to fit in cells, consider using the Zoom box in the Standard toolbar to make the entries more readable. Q&As (EX 147) For a complete list of the Q&As found in many of the step-by-step sequences in this book, visit the Excel 2011 Q&A Web page (scsite.com/ex2011/qa). Copying and Pasting from Other Programs (EX 148) If you have data you need in Excel, but the data is stored in another program, copying and pasting likely will help you. You might need to experiment before you are successful because Excel might attempt to copy formatting or other information that you did not intend to paste from the other program. Using the various Paste buttons likely will solve most of such problems. Move It or Copy It (EX 148) Contrary to popular belief, move and copy operations are not the same. When you move a cell, the data in the original location is cleared and the format of the cell is reset to the default. When you copy a cell, the data and format of the copy area remains intact. In short, you should copy cells to duplicate entries and move cells to rearrange entries. Cutting (EX 150) When you cut a cell or range of cells using the Cut command in a shortcut menu or Cut button in the Standard toolbar, Excel copies the cells to the Office clipboard, but does not remove the cells from the source area until you paste the cells in the destination area by either clicking the Paste button in the Standard toolbar or pressing the return key. When you complete the paste, Excel clears the cell s or range of cell s entries and their formats from the source area. Inserting Multiple Rows (EX 152) If you want to insert multiple rows, you have two choices. You can repeatedly insert single rows by using the Insert command in the shortcut menu or Insert > Row in the menu bar. Alternatively, you can select any number of existing rows to choose the number of rows that you want to insert. For instance, if you want to insert five rows, select five existing rows in the worksheet, control-click the rows, and then click Insert in the shortcut menu. Ranges and Undo (EX 152) The incorrect use of copying, deleting, inserting, and moving ranges of cells have the potential to render a worksheet useless. Carefully review the results of these actions before continuing on to the next task. If you are not sure the result of the action is correct, click the Undo button in the Standard toolbar. Freezing Titles (EX 155) If you want to freeze only column headings, select the appropriate cell in column A before you choose Freeze Panes from the pop-up menu. If you want to freeze only row titles, select the appropriate cell in row 1 before you choose Freeze Panes. To freeze both column headings and row titles, select the cell that is the intersection of the column and row titles before you choose Freeze Panes.

3 The Insert Options Button (EX 155) When you insert columns or rows, Excel displays the Insert Options button only if formats are assigned to the leftmost column or top row of the selection. Your Age in Days (EX 158) How many days have you been alive? Enter today s date (e.g., 12/5/2013) in cell A1. Next, enter your birth date (e.g., 6/22/1996) in cell A2. Select cell A3 and enter the formula = A1-A2. Format cell A3 to the General style (Number format box on Home tab under Number), and cell A3 will display your age in days. Absolute Referencing (EX 158) Absolute referencing is one of the more difficult worksheet concepts to understand. One point to keep in mind is that the paste operation is the only operation affected by an absolute cell reference. An absolute cell reference instructs the paste operation to keep the same cell reference as it copies a formula from one cell to another. Logical Operators in IF Functions (EX 160) IF functions can use logical operators, such as AND, OR, and NOT. For example, the three IF functions =IF(AND(A1>C1, B1<C2), OK, Not OK ) and =IF(OR(K5>J5, C3<K6), OK, Not OK ) and =IF(NOT(B10<C10), OK, Not OK ) use logical operators. In the first example, both logical tests must be true for the value_if_true OK to be assigned to the cell. In the second example, one or the other logical tests must be true for the value_if_true OK to be assigned to the cell. In the third example, the logical test B10<C10 must be false for the value_if_true OK to be assigned to the cell. Error Messages (EX 163) When Excel cannot calculate a formula, it displays an error message in a cell. These error messages always begin with a number sign (#). The more commonly occurring error messages are as follows: #DIV/0! (tries to divide by zero); #NAME? (uses a name Excel does not recognize); #N/A (refers to a value not available); #NULL! (specifies an invalid intersection of two areas); #NUM! (uses a number incorrectly); #REF (refers to a cell that is not valid); #VALUE! (uses an incorrect argument or operand); and ##### (refers to cells not wide enough to display entire entry). Using IFERROR (EX 166) Similar to the IF function, the IFERROR function checks a formula for correctness. For example, =IFERROR(formula, Error Message ) examines the formula argument. If an error appears (such as #N/A), Excel displays the Error Message text in the cell instead of the Excel #N/A error. Work Days (EX 173) Assume that you have two dates, one in cell A1 and the other in cell A2. Assume further that the date in cell A1 is your starting date and the date in cell A2 is the ending date. To calculate the work days between the two dates (excluding weekends), use the following formula: =NETWORKDAYS(A1, A2). The Fill and Font Color Buttons (EX 173)

4 You may have noticed that the color bar at the bottom of the Fill Color and Font Color buttons on the Home tab in the Font group (Figure 3 46) changes to the most recently selected color. To apply this same color to a cell background or text, select a cell and then click the Fill Color button to use the color as a background or click the Font Color button to use the color as a font color. Painting a Format to Nonadjacent Ranges (EX 175) Double-click the Format Painter button in the Standard toolbar and then drag through the nonadjacent ranges to paint the formats to the ranges. Click the Format Painter button again to deactivate it. Selecting Nonadjacent Ranges (EX 175) One of the more difficult tasks to learn is selecting nonadjacent ranges. To complete this task, do not hold down the command key when you select the first range because Excel will consider the current active cell to be the first selection, and you may not want the current active cell in the selection. Once the first range is selected, hold down the command key and drag through the nonadjacent ranges. If a desired range is not visible in the window, use the scroll arrows to view the range. You need not hold down the command key while you scroll. Charts (EX 176) When you change a value on which a chart is dependent, Excel immediately redraws the chart based on the new value. With bar charts, you can drag the bar in the chart in one direction or another to change the corresponding value in the worksheet. Chart Items (EX 176) When you rest the mouse pointer over a chart item, such as a legend, bar, or axis, Excel displays a chart tip containing the name of the item. Exploding a 3-D Pie Chart (EX 186) If you click a 3-D Pie chart so that all of the slices are selected, you can drag one of the slices to explode all of the slices. Checking Spelling (EX 189) Unless you first select a range of cells or an object before starting the spell checker, Excel checks the entire selected worksheet, including all cell values, cell comments, embedded charts, text boxes, buttons, and headers and footers. Conserving Ink and Toner (EX 189) If you want to conserve ink or toner, you can instruct Excel to print draft quality documents by choosing File > Print in the menu bar to open the Print dialog, clicking the Copies & Pages button, and selecting Print Settings from the pop-up menu. Under Basic Print Settings, place a check mark in the Toner Save Mode check box, and then click the Print button. Zooming (EX 193) You can use the Zoom box in the Standard toolbar or View > Zoom in the menu bar to zoom from 25% to 200% to reduce or enlarge the display of a worksheet.

5 Quick Reference (EX 196) For a table that lists how to complete the tasks covered in this book using the mouse, ribbon, shortcut menu, menu bar, and keyboard, see the Quick Reference Summary at the back of this book, or visit the Excel 2011 Quick Reference Web page (scsite.com/ex2011/qr).